Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 November 7

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November 7

Movember

I tried asking this on Talk:Movember but got no response and so I'm trying here instead. This may sound daft but I've had a moustache all my adult life and so have never been able to participate, thus explaining my ignorance. Exactly how does Movember raise money? I can see how it might raise awareness but I don't get the fundraising part. Do people sponsor the moustache growers or do they pay the charity or what? Or is it now just one of those alleged charity things that raises very little as it has become just a bit of jolly jape posturing by silly boys a la the Ice Bucket Challenge (I know people are supposed to donate money after doing that but most people I know who participated didn't bother). Keresaspa (talk) 01:08, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Ref #5 in the article (link to funds results overview) is still active and looks like the movement's US homepage, if you want to read up on more details. Apparently participants are encouraged to do their own fundraising with friends, family, neighborhood, etc. I didn't read any further, but there are several more pages full of info. GermanJoe (talk) 01:47, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

When I get to the "Raise Funds" bit it expects me to login before showing me anything so I'm none the wiser. Thanks anyway though. Keresaspa (talk) 03:15, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

I think you simply grow (or keep) a moustache, then ask people for money for a noble-sounding cause. It's like just asking, but with a gimmick. When people are amused, the rational part of their brain takes a rest. Same carny trick that works for fortune telling, freak shows, pro wrestling and junk food (the Heart Attack Grill doesn't differentiate). But if they're amused and confused, the rational part will keep waking up to ask why. So it's good to stick with the familiar memes.

Though I would pay a lot more to see someone try to grow it out in July, when the sweat makes them look more creepy than caring, and dump ice on themselves in November, when it's not refreshing and fun. But then it would be work, not asking. Not the carny way. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:37, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Dumping ice could easily be refreshing and fun in November, may be not as refreshing as in January but still... It's definitely likely to be more refreshing than doing it in July/August when it seemed more common. Nil Einne (talk) 13:46, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Right. Sometimes I forget there's another half of the world. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:58, 9 November 2014 (UTC)

Personally I think the Ice Bucket Challenge is dumb, but according to our article, the total raised is over $100 million. It's not clear whether this is excluding normal donations over that period, this [1] does say they are tripling research spending. Regardless, I'm not sure it's accurate to say it raises very little money. I would note that per our article, according to some variants people aren't supposed to (but can, and some do) donate if they did the challenge, it's only suggested they donate if they don't want to do the challenge. It may be true that many people don't donate whatever the case (our article says likewise) or that they've raised very little in comparison to the number of participants but that's an entirely different point. Similarly it's probably true that at least some of the money came at the expense of other charities, but again that's a different point. Edit: Actually just noticed our article does say the previous year they received $19.4 million so the current amount would seem to be $80 million more at least. Nil Einne (talk) 13:46, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

The long of Kiev how is it?

What is the long of Kiev? someone told me is 100 handred km, that's right? 149.78.27.187 10:22, 7 November 2014 (UTC) Asked by: 149.78.27.187 10:22, 7 November 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.78.27.187 (talk)

First, the concept of length of a city (or place) is a fairly unusual dimension without a clear definition, but I guess you mean the distance between the widest seperate points. Also I assume you mean 100 km or one hundred km, since 10000km (one hundred hundred or 100 00 km) is longer than the the widest seperated points in Ukraine or even possibly Russia [2]. Anyway while I don't know the answer, I think 100km is too high also. According to Kiev, the area is 839 km² so this would suggest the average seperation in the other direction is ~8 km if the widest seperate is 100 km, which could be the case if there was a very long but narrow area somewhere, but there doesn't seem to be. Of course definitions of borders of internal divisions sometimes have various definitions, but it doesn't seem likely that there's any common definition where the widest seperated points are 100 km apart. Nil Einne (talk) 13:33, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Note that Kiev oblast (the region), which Kiev city isn't a part of, is 28,131km², or about 167 km by 167km if it was square. It is 245 km North to South, and its East-West width varies between 78 km (in the North), 173 km (at the widest) and 110km (at the south). CS Miller (talk) 14:06, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

If you do mean the longest length between two points in a city (or any map region), that would be the diameter of the region, see Diameter#Generalizations. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:12, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

Measuring on Google Maps, the greatest distance between two points along the city limits of Kiev is about 45 km. Marco polo (talk) 14:28, 7 November 2014 (UTC)